Hill, John R., PhD

John R. Hill (d.1878) was a successful Texas planter, known for encouraging Polish immigration to Texas, mainly to alleviate the labor problems he faced during the mid 19th century. Hill and eleven others organized the Waverley Emigration Society, to bring Polish farmworkers to East Texas. He persuaded five families to move from overseas to his plantation with the promise of work and compensation. Hill served as a trustee of the Marion Male and Female Academy and as president of the Waverly Institute, established in 1856 in Waverly, Texas.

From the description of Hill, John R. Papers, 1826-1878 (University of Texas Libraries). WorldCat record id: 776701135

John R. Hill (d.1878) was a successful Texas planter, known for encouraging Polish immigration to Texas, mainly to alleviate the labor problems he faced during the mid 19th century. Hill and eleven others organized the Waverley Emigration Society, to bring Polish farmworkers to East Texas. He persuaded five families to move from overseas to his plantation with the promise of work and compensation. Hill served as a trustee of the Marion Male and Female Academy and as president of the Waverly Institute, established in 1856 in Waverly, Texas.

Sources: Calvert, Robert A. The Freedmen and Agricultural Prosperity. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Vol. 76, No. 4 (Apr., 1973), pp. 461-472.

Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. Waverly, Texas, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/WW/hnw24.html (accessed July 20, 2010).

From the guide to the Hill, John R. Papers 1934; 1938., 1826-1878, (Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin)